"Ambition overrides good sense and compassion is thrown away in its face, all in the name of Lloth, the Spider Queen." — Drizzt Do'Urden

Average Height: 4′7″‒5′5″ (140‒170 cm)
Average Lifespan: 750 years
Favored Alignment: Evil (any)
Darkvision: Yes (120ft)
Unique Traits: attractive, intelligent, eye color changes based on health/mental state/location, Sensitive to heat - have infravision up to a range of 120 feet (37 meters)

In ages past, the elves were torn by discord and warfare, driving out from their surface lands their selfish and cruel members, who sought safety in the underworld. These creatures, later known as the "dark elvenfolk" or drow, grew strong in the arcane arts over the centuries and content with their gloomy fairyland beneath the earth, though they still bear enmity towards and seek revenge against their distant kin, the elves and faeries who drove them down. They are described as chaotic evil in alignment, and highly intelligent. They are described as black-skinned and pale haired in appearance, around 5-feet tall and slight of build with somewhat sharp features, with large eyes and large pointed ears.

Drow society is primarily matriarchal, with priestesses of their evil spider goddess Lolth (sometimes spelled Lloth) in the highest seats of power. Drow rank structure was based much more on personal experience level and proven personal abilities rather than on gender. Males were just as likely to have positions of authority over both males and females, and the tradition of Matriarchy, where the highest-ranking member was always a female, was not a special directive of the Demon Queen Lolth.

Drow society is based upon violence, murder, cunning, and the philosophy that only the strong survive (though in Drow tongue, a quirk of the language creates a reversal of cause-and-effect; more correctly, it can be translated as "those who survive are strong"). Hence, most Drow plot endlessly to murder or otherwise incapacitate their rivals and enemy Drow using deceit and betrayal. Drow, particularly in higher positions, are constantly wary of assassins and the like. One of the quirks of this constant infighting is the relatively short lifespan of the average Drow. While being just as long lived as their surface cousins, living as long as a thousand years, elderly Drow are rarely encountered.

	Sulatar Drow	Ebberon	Masters of elemental binding. The best warriors within this society use weapons and other items that are enhanced with fire. Their weapons and armor often have fire art on them. The most interesting aspect of their weapons and armor is that it is made of a form of mithril that looks a lot like bronze. The Firebinders tattoo patterns of flames across their skin, believing that these grant mystical protection. Although the tattoos do not actually confer any benefit, a combination of mystical heritage and long training allows the Sulatar to exercise great control over bound fire elementals.
	Vulkoori Drow	Ebberon	Allied with monstrous scorpions, Dark elves are very careful about sharing their family names, and it is considered an insult in drow society to ask about a family name. Among dark elves, sharing a family name is sometimes a sign of trust and friendship, but more often it is a sign of submission to a more powerful individual. Vulkoori drow are proficient with the Xen’drik Boomerang and Drow Long Knife. Vukoori are skilled in the use of poison and never risk accidentally poisoning themselves. Drow favor an insidious toxin that causes its victims to lapse into unconsciousness—this poison allows drow to capture slaves with great ease.
	Umbragen	Ebberon	Drow with oily black skin and pure black eyes. Umbragen know very little about the outside world, being an incredibly secretive culture, and few outsiders know anything about them. Three theories exist as to their origins - a) they came from Shadowfell b) they were created by a warped deity c) they traveled 'very' deep underground and managed to find/absorb some foul power into themselves.
	Szarkai	Forgotten Realms	Albino drow that could easily pass as normal elves, making them ideal spies. Although extremely rare (0.01% of the drow population) and a subject of mystery, they were viewed as the blessing of Lolth and far too valuable to risk in the cutthroat politics of drow society.
	Drider		A drow that had been transformed from the waist down so they had the body of a spider. The transformation was typically a punishment from Lolth for failing a test. Driders were created from drow in an agonizing process and were sexless because Lolth did not want to have a race of enemies to the drow. Driders kept all magical abilities and skills they learned during their lives, including their memories and personalities from their time as a drow; added to this came a sense of shame, hatred, and fear that made them violent hunters. Most harbored a death wish that made them want to die in battle. They needed to drink blood at least every four days or their bodies started to deteriorate from which they could die outside of a battle. About half of the drider population had the ability to spin webs like spiders. They were immune to all poisons.
	Zekyl		Zekylyn were the half-dragon offspring of shadow dragons and enslaved drow. Now-free citizens they escaped to the Plane of Shadow and learned of a way to divide their dragon and drow lineages, leading to the creation of the race of the drow-dragon. A zekyl had the abilities of a drow and of a half-dragon of shadow dragon patronage. A distinctive feature of zekyl was a pair of wings on their back that allowed them to fly faster than they could move on land. Being drow elves gave them good resistance against magic that affected their will and against enchantment in general, protection against spells and an immunity to sleep magic.